The „Biprostal” office building
Prior to its rebuilding, the “Biprostal” was an example of the International Style in architecture, following the works of Mies van der Rohe. It was also the first high rise in Krakow, of 55 m height, and its entire side elevation was adorned by the – still largest in Poland – mosaic of ceramic tiles in warm colours. The composition and layout comprised of coherent parallelepipeds: the vertical and horizontal one along with the connecting passage; they were marked by functionalism. The upper floors of the high building were cantilevered and supported on pilotis. At the corner, in the ground floor, there were bent window panes – a rarity in Krakow in that time. The dynamic staircase was also characteristic. Curtain walls of glass and coated metal, in the Miesian blue colour, gave shape to the elevations. The horizontal articulation of the low part was legible, accentuated by the division of windows, as was the one of the high part of the building, with colour stressing the bands under the windows. Currently, of the original design, only the mosaic was retained.